Pedregon, who drives the Snap-on Tools Toyota Camary, was able to hold on to his Friday pass of 4.103 at 305.29 mph during qualifying before a near-capacity crowd on Saturday afternoon.

After experiencing nearly perfect racing conditions on Friday, the heat, humidity and wind was a major factor for all of the race teams on Saturday.

“It’s a good thing that we made two great runs yesterday,” Pedregon said. “Late in the day yesterday we had a cylinder drop and we had two more of those today at the end of the run, so weren’t able to make any good runs today. The good news is that we held on to the No. 1 spot and we can go and continue to adjust the fuel system.”

Pedregon, who has scored eight No. 1 qualifiers at this track, recorded his 47th career No. 1 qualifying position on the NHRA Nitro Funny Car circuit. He will now face No. 16 qualifier Gary Densham in Sunday’s open round, which is slated for 11 a.m.

Cruz Pedregon in the Snap-on Tools Toyota Camary will face Gary Densham in the opening round on Sunday at the NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. (NHRA photo)

“It’s an honor to have the No. 1 spot here with all of the competition,” Pedregon said. “I’m already thinking about race day and thinking about what we are going to have to do to continue our performance. I’m confident that we are going to get it fixed.”

Top Fuel

Morgan Lucas, who had the fastest time in Friday’s evening qualifying session, was able to hang on to the No. 1 spot on Saturday. Friday night’s weather conditions helped Lucas to post a 3.772-second, 327.74 mph pass in his GEICO-sponsored Top Fuel dragster.

“We were really fortunate that the night session ran a little late for us and we could get those conditions that helped us run that big number,” said Lucas, who won earlier this year at Gainesville. “I’m really proud of my team for putting that together. It also gave us the opportunity to test a little bit today and try to figure a couple things out.”

It was the fourth time in six races this season that Lucas has nailed down the No. 1 qualifying spot. On Sunday, Lucas will face Texas’ Troy Bluff of Spring in the opening round on Sunday. Buff took the last qualifying spot after running a 4.003 at 301.54 mph.

Morgan Lucas in the GEICO Top Fuel dragster will face Troy Bluff in the opening round on Sunday at the NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. (NHRA photo)

“We are learning and we are taking one step at a time,” Lucas said. “The big deal for us right now is just trying to build consistency. Tomorrow we are going to put the car back to where we know how it can run well.”

Pro Stock

Allen Johnson was able to hold onto his No. 1 spot through Saturday’s qualifying efforts. On Friday night he made a pass clocked at 6.545 at 211.73 mph in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger.

“I think the conditions tomorrow are going to be as similar as they are today,” Johnson said. “Our motto in the Mopar camp is consistency and I think we accomplished that today. We weren’t quite as fast as we wanted to be today, but we were only a hundredth off. I think tomorrow will be a knock down drag out and the Mopar Dodge Avenger team is ready for that. Everyone has their winning hats on and we are learning how to win. Look for good things tomorrow.”

It was Johnson’s second No. 1 of the season and 20th of his racing career. He will face Shane Gray in the opening round on Sunday.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

In the Pro Stock Motorcycle division, Hector Arana on his Lucas Oil Buell will face Mike Berry after Arana grabbed the No. 1 qualifying position with a 6.850-second, 195.56 mph pass. It was his 18th career No. 1 qualifier.

“We have been working hard,” Arana said. “I know those Harley’s are running fast and we can’t think about them. We just have to keep going so we can get back to sitting on the pole. We are trying to get this bike perfect and try to make excellent runs down the quarter mile to give us the extra edge that we need.”

Danny Rowe, the No. 3 qualifier, advanced in his Sterling Bridge ’68 Chevy Camaro to the second round of eliminations and was among the first-round winners Saturday in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx portion.

Rowe posted a 5.951 second pass at 244.92 mph and outraced Mike Knowles in a ’68 Camaro when Knowles lost traction almost immediately and coasted across the finish line at 11.413 at 78.30. Rowe will face Troy Coughlin in round two Sunday. Coughlin defeated Leah Pruett to advance to the second round.

Mike Castellana, the defending event winner, was upset in the first round by Steve Matusek. No. 2 qualifier Rickie Smith also lost in round one to Donald Walsh. Some of the second round pairings will include Brad Brand v. Kenny Lang and Walsh v. Pete Farber. Matusek will get a bye run. Eliminations for the Pro Mod series will continue on Sunday at approximately 2 p.m.BAYTOWN, Texas — Sunday’s first-round pairings for final eliminations for the 25th annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Royal Purple Raceway, the sixth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.